asked the Minister for Justice the steps being taken by his Department to deal with the problems arising upon persons remarrying after obtaining church annulments but without first obtaining civil decrees of annulment.
24.
Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers. - Marriage Annulments.
23.
asked the Minister for Justice whether he intends to introduce as a matter of urgency legislation to amend the law as to civil nullity of marriage in the light of the fact that 462 decrees of annulment were granted by the Marriage Tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church in the period 1976 to 1980, inclusive, while only 17 decrees of annulment were granted by the High Court during the same period.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 together.
If the first question is intended to refer to the offence of bigamy, I would like to make it clear that it is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide if there is evidence warranting a prosecution for bigamy in any particular case.
On the general subject of nullity of marriage, the Deputy is no doubt aware that certain tentative proposals were published in a discussion document issued in 1976 by the Office of the Attorney General but the issues turned out to be so complex that it was decided that the matter should be referred to the Law Reform Commission for study. The commission in their most recent report, published in March 1981, said that the intractable nature of some of the issues raised had prevented the matter from being brought to as rapid a conclusion as had been hoped.
I am sure that the commission are as anxious as anybody else to have it dealt with as soon as possible. I do not see any practical alternative to awaiting the commission's recommendations. It would be wholly unrealistic to suggest that my Department could be expected at this stage to take over the matter and in a short time to produce solutions that other agencies have found to be so elusive up to now.
Firstly, in relation to Question No. 23 may I draw the Minister's attention to the fact that parties who are celebrating second marriages——
A question, Deputy, please.
Would the Minister agree that parties who celebrate second marriages after obtaining church annulments which are not recognised in law are creating major civil law problems for themselves? Would the Minister not agree that many people in this situation are unaware of the existence of these problems — such as that the children born to such marriages are illegitimate, that husbands and wives do not have the normal protections the law affords, such as the fact that the second wife may not have succession rights. Would the Minister not agree that this is a matter requiring urgent consideration? In addition, I put it to the Minister that the report produced by the Attorney General in 1976 was an extremely detailed one, making detailed recommendations, and that what is required now is not a further report but the political will to tackle the problem?
As I have stated already, I do not see any practical solution until such time as it has been dealt with by the Law Reform Commission.
Would the Minister confirm for me that this is a problem which has caused successive Governments a lot of difficulty going back perhaps a decade of discussion in this House? Would he confirm also that it has bedevilled all political parties in this House during that time, and that perhaps now the time has come to bring it to a conclusion on a non-political basis once and for all. In that regard would the Minister consider writing formally to the Law Reform Commission expressing the wish of the elected representatives in this House that they bring their consideration to a conclusion rapidly and propose recommendations to this House for enactment? Would he consider conveying the views of what I think to be all of the Members on all sides of this House? Would he confirm those points for me?
I agree with the Deputy.
Might I ask the Minister if the Garda authorities are aware of any cases where the civil offence of bigamy has in fact been committed in situations where there was a church annulment and would he say what is the attitude of the prosecuting authority of the State to that situation?
That is a separate question.
I am sorry, I think it is a matter that fairly arises from the question.
Clearly arises.
There are two questions there and it fairly arises to ask: are the Garda authorities aware of bigamous situations arising and do they have an attitude towards that situation in which a church annulment has taken place? It is a fair consequence as a supplementary, A Cheann Comhairle.
I think the main thing is that the Director of Public Prosecutions office are running away from it.
That is the answer.
But the Deputy is not suggesting that——
I am not suggesting anything, I am only asking for information. I am asking a question: what is the attitude of the prosecuting authorities, for which the Minister has responsibility, to that situation? We have been running away from the whole problem for ten years; that is why I am trying to highlight it.
It is a separate question.
Arising out of the Minister's reply in reference to the Law Reform Commission, the comments of Deputy Brennan and the Minister's reply to those, would the Minister not agree that the reason the Law Reform Commission——
It is too embarrassing a question; that is the answer.
——have stated that the intractable nature of some of the issues raised has delayed agreement is that the Law Reform Commission have been asked to take political decisions they cannot take, that they are decisions that should be taken by this House. I would ask the Minister to request the Law Reform Commission not merely to bring their deliberations to a conclusion — and I believe they may not be able to reach any conclusion — but to put before the Minister whatever report they have at present, making it available to this House by the beginning of October next so that the matter can be debated in the House when we return from the summer recess.
I reject the suggestion made by the Deputy that the Law Reform Commission are being asked to make political decisions.
Would the Minister not agree that the nub of the situation might be summed up in this way, that on this issue of annulment church law is 50 years ahead of the laws of the State, that it is high time the nettle was grasped and that the State brought its laws up to date, as the church authorities have done?
It is time we stopped passing the buck to the Law Reform Commission.
Accepting the Minister's confirmation that he will write formally to the Law Reform Commission asking them to bring their deliberations to a conclusion, would he also ask them to generally expedite the review of the overall family law situation in the country, something of grave concern to this House and the public at large? We need to up-date our family law situation as rapidly as possible. I know the Minister is conscious of this, and would he pass on that anxiety to the Law Reform Commission asking them to give particular attention to this question of nullity in the weeks ahead and also to the general question of family law improvement?
I will do that.
Having regard to the fact that the Minister has agreed with Deputy Brennan that this is a particularly sensitive problem, would he consider asking the assistance of Members on all sides of the House to deal with it by establishing an all-party committeee to deal with this sensitive issue?
That is a separate question.